More Applicants But Harder To Hire: Majority Of Job Applications Do Not Meet Listed Criteria, Finds LinkedIn Published on Jan 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions, Data and insights, Featured News LinkedIn Corporate Communications
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New LinkedIn research reveals nearly 3 out of 5 (58%) people will be looking for a new job in 2025, but both job seekers (50%) and hirers (64%) say the process has become harder
Nearly 40% of job seekers are applying to more jobs than ever but hearing back less, and 73% of HR professionals say that less than half of job applications received meet all the criteria listed
New hiring tools are top of HR team's wish lists for 2025 - as LinkedIn releases new tools and insights to help businesses and professionals hire and get hired
New data from LinkedIn, the world's largest professional network, finds that while nearly 3 out of 5 (58%) people are looking for a new job in 2025, nearly two-thirds (64%) of HR professionals say it's actually become harder to find qualified talent in the last year.
More than a third (37%) of job seekers say they are applying to more jobs than ever, but hearing back less. Hirers are also finding the process increasingly challenging. Over a fifth (22%) of HR professionals are spending between 3 - 5 hours a day sifting through applications, with 73% of HR professionals saying that less than half of job applications received meet all of the criteria listed.
Changing skills requirements
This mismatch is partly driven by changes in the skills and roles that businesses need - LinkedIn's inaugural Work Change Report shows that global hiring for AI talent has surged more than 300% over the last eight years. LinkedIn's annual Jobs on the Rise list also reflects the changing needs of businesses - almost three-quarters (71%) of this year's Jobs on the Rise roles are new to the annual lists.
While these changes are driving innovation and growth, they are also presenting new hiring challenges. LinkedIn data shows that the skills needed for jobs are expected to change 70% by 2030, accelerated by rapid developments in AI. HR professionals list finding candidates with the right technical (51%) and soft (45%) skills as some of the top challenges they face - and nearly two-thirds (63%) say there's a mismatch between the skills job seekers have and the skills their organisation needs.
How businesses are navigating these challenges
Nearly 9 out of 10 (88%) C-suite executives say helping their business speed up adoption of AI is important over the next year. Access to hiring technologies - including AI-powered tools - is the #1 thing global HR professionals (51%) say would make the hiring process easier, with nearly three-quarters (74%) saying AI makes it easier to find qualified candidates. To mitigate against emerging skills gaps, businesses are also looking to build skills from within: 77% of HR professionals say their organisation is prioritising upskilling initiatives in 2025 - in areas such as AI, sustainability, and soft skills.
Olivier Sabella, Vice President at LinkedIn, says: Finding the right person for a role often feels like finding a needle in a haystack. And it's natural that companies have been finding it harder to find the talent they need - especially when you consider that many of the fastest-growing job roles we see today didn't even exist 20 years ago. However, ensuring you have the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles will be crucial for a business's success in the years to come. It's great to see businesses taking the front foot on navigating these workplace changes - whether that's by investing in AI-powered hiring tools to supercharge recruiting efforts, or prioritising upskilling initiatives to build the skills their organisation needs from within.
James Milligan, Global Head of Technology, Engineering & Contracting, Hays, says: Whether you're a business looking to get the upper hand on competitors, or a jobseeker looking for your next role, you will be left behind if you don't embrace new technologies like AI. Look at the digitisation of work over the past years. If a business failed to digitise and was still using older methods, like filing cabinets and pen and paper, they are highly likely not to exist today. The same will be true of candidates and organisations who do not embrace AI. They will fall behind. The true impact will probably be felt after 2030, but the preparation needs to be made now. Those who embrace it will be winning later on, whilst those who ignore it, will likely be out of business in a few years' time.
Jason Pyle, President and Managing Director of Harvey Nash USA & Canada, says: Today companies have raised the bar for candidates, seeking hard skills like AI, machine learning, and data analytics, as well as soft skills like problem-solving and resourcefulness. This creates an opportunity for candidates to really stand out from the crowd by demonstrating they have the skills employers are looking for. Candidates are already using AI to hone their job applications, but they must make sure their own personality and skillsets shine through. For employers, getting to really know the candidate by assessing culture fit and how they respond to real-world questions will become increasingly important. This is where recruitment agencies can lighten the load and, in turn, help companies cut through the noise.
LinkedIn introduces new tools designed to address hiring challenges
To help businesses and professionals hire and get hired, LinkedIn is rolling out new tools:
LinkedIn's new job match feature - To help job seekers focus their job search on the opportunities that are the best match for them, LinkedIn will roll out a new job match feature that shows how t
